Man with five driving while intoxicated convictions sentenced to 35 years in prison

Carrier was arrested this year on suspicion of aggravated assault of a public servant.

CORPUS CHRISTI - A Corpus Christi man with a lengthy record of drunken driving was sentenced Thursday to 35 years in prison.

Garron Carrier, 49, now has five convictions for driving while intoxicated.

A jury found him guilty this month related to an August arrest. His blood alcohol content measured .23, nearly three times the legal limit.

Carrier was considered a habitual offender and was charged with a first-degree felony. He faced as long as life in prison.

Visiting Judge Marisela Saldaña decided his punishment Thursday.

Carrier's attorney, David Diaz, had argued for the minimum 25 years but said afterward that even that seemed excessive because Carrier had never hurt anyone.

Carrier faces two more trials — one related to a sixth drunken driving case and another on two counts of aggravated assault of a public servant, according to court records.

Prosecutor Andrea Koch, who had argued for 50 years, said Carrier had been out on bail in the August case when he again was arrested on suspicion of felony drunken driving.After he was released on bail for that December arrest, he was arrested earlier this year on allegations that he assaulted officers.

If convicted in those cases, his sentences could run either at the same time or be stacked with his 35-year prison term.